Frequently
Asked Questions
Web Design
What are the steps involved if you build my
website?
What is more important: A visually stunning,
unique, and beautiful website with so-so content OR a website with
meaningful, organized, and useful content that doesn’t focus
on stunning graphics and flashy opening video?
What pages are typically included on most websites?
What isn’t all of the company’s information simply on
one long home page?
Web Design and Web Development are often used
interchangeable; what is the difference between the two?
What about Graphics?
Who "owns" the site?
Do I need Internet access to have a home page?
If I have you design my site, do I have to host
it with you?
What goes into designing a site?
Why do I have to have a link back to your site
on mine?
Why should I pay you considering my son/daughter/niece/nephew/neighbor's
kid or fishing buddy received a fancy new Web Development Software
Application from Santa and offered to build me a site for free?
What web development software applications do
you use?
What are the steps involved if you
build my website?
• Initial consultation
• A needs analysis is performed (informally)
• Contract discussion and completion including 50% deposit
• Obtain a Domain Name (if applicable)
• Client completes and provides the Project Profiler (a questionnaire
for the client)
• Content (text, graphics, photos, etc.) provided by client
• Web design & development begins
• Initial draft of website created and presented to client
for review
• Discussion & implementation of changes completed
• Final draft of website created and presented to client for
review
• Discussion & implementation of changes completed
• Both parties agree on a go-live date
• Final 50% paid by client
• Website published and live
• Website is optimized for and submitted to top search engines
What is more important: A visually
stunning, unique, and beautiful website with so-so content OR a
website with meaningful, organized, and useful content that doesn’t
focus on stunning graphics and flashy opening video?
Not only would you learn from most professional
web designers, but also from most folks just like you and I who
use the internet, good content that is organized, laid out well,
and thorough is more important than all the snazzy graphics and
flash-style animations that are available. Of course, the best of
both worlds is ideal: Great content with visually pleasing graphics.
The most important thing to remember is this … Your visitors
are browsing your website for the content – the information,
products, services, and similar – not to be dazzled per-se
with a multitude of visually stunning flash animations and the like.
I enjoy designing flash-style animation just as much as the next
designer, but I believe it should be implemented subtly, with style,
and in moderation when used.
What pages are typically included
on most websites? Why not simply use a single page for most of my
information such as the home page?
It is rare, but
you will occasionally notice a company website that only has one
or a very small number of pages that make up the company’s
website. The use of a single home page for all content is not recommended
simply due to organization of content being one of the most important
factors in a visitor successfully navigating and finding the desired
information of your website.
The typical web pages that make up most
websites include, but are not limited to: Home, About, Contact,
FAQ, Links, and Products/Services. There are often secondary web
pages that are listed at or near the bottom of the many website
pages including: Privacy Policy, Terms of Services, User Agreement,
Customer Service, etc.
Web Design and Web Development are
often used interchangeable; what is the difference between the two?
Yes, web design and web development are
used interchangeably in may areas and contexts. However, there is
a distinction between the two. Web design, specifically, refers
to the creation of the layout, format, appearance, feel, look, interactivity,
and overall design of a website. Web development goes one step further
by taking that design, which many times is only an artists rendering
or a mockup in a graphics program in a JPG or BMP format, and translating
it into meaningful and organized objects that make up a website
which includes, but not limited to: the actual coding (i.e. html,
dhtml, xml, CSS, etc.), images, video, sound, text, and other content.
In other words, design is the look and feel and development is putting
the design to work and actually creating the site using graphic
and web authoring applications.
What about Graphics?
We encourage clients to provide their
own graphics, but we do require that the copyright information be
available if requested. We offer non-exclusive use of our clip art
and stock graphics, or we can design graphics specifically for you.
Either option can be discussed prior to the completion and signing
of the contract for services and included if desirable. Or, this
option may be added as an addendum to an existing contract.
Who "owns" the site?
All customer-supplied materials remain
the property of the customer. Once the site design is "finished"
and the final payment made, the client retains all rights, with
the exception of our clip art or stock graphics. We do reserve the
right to request removal of our logo or link(s) to our URL should
the client or a third party significantly alter the appearance of
the site (we would hope the customer would contact us first for
any changes to the site, for whatever reason they may be necessary).
Do I need Internet access to have
a website?
No, internet access is not absolutely
necessary. You could access your site and/or email from the local
library or a family or friend’s internet connected computer,
sign up for an Internet-based email account, or get free e-mail
through Juno if you have a computer and modem. This might be all
you need for personal use.
However, if you expect to establish a web presence for business
purposes, it is highly recommended that you have easy access to
the world wide web to know what else is out there, what your competition
is doing, where to find additional resources, etc., so that you
can make informed decisions and focus your marketing approach appropriately.
Many ISP's charge approx. $20/mo. for unlimited access, and some
offer limited access packages for less than $10/mo.
If I have you design my site, do
I have to host it with you?
No. We will be more than happy to discuss
our hosting plans with you and answer any questions you have about
web hosting. However, you are under no obligation to choose BKC
Technology as your web host. Moreover, if you already have a site
designed or have chosen another individual or company to develop
your site, you are welcome to host your site with us. Web design
& development and Web hosting are entirely separate aspects
of our business.
What goes into designing a site?
A site’s most important asset is
its content with graphics next. The graphic site elements include
banners, buttons, your logo, images, background, accent graphics,
and more, depending on your preferences. You may provide us with
your own graphics, select from stock images, or have us create new
graphics specifically for your site.
We prefer to receive the content from
the client, but we will be glad to discuss our assistance in the
development of content if desired. Web site organization, being
interactive and non-linear, does not follow the same rules as organization
for print, so it often takes considerable rethinking and rearranging
of existing materials to make them suitable for the web.
Why do I have to have a link back
to your site on mine?
You don't have to. Having said that, we
make it part of our design contract, but you're welcome to discuss
this before the approval of the draft site.
Why should I pay you considering
my son/daughter/niece/nephew/neighbor's kid or fishing buddy received
a fancy new Web Development Software Application from Santa and
offered to build me a site for free?
It’s a wonderful gift to receive
– a new web authoring application – from Santa. And,
it is awfully nice of your son/daughter/niece/nephew/neighbor's
kid or fishing buddy to offer to build you a website for free. If
you are interested in only obtaining a home page with your personal
vacation photos and some information about your favorite hobbies,
I say “take em’ up on the offer”!
However, please think about this for
a moment in regard to a successful business web presence: if you
were building an actual physical store-front, wouldn't you hire
a skilled architect and construction firm (or similar) to do the
work for you? After all, they are professionals experienced in the
industry and know the ins and outs of the building trade and how
to make sure that you have a solid foundation for a store-front.
What web development software application(s)
do you use?
• Macromedia Studio (Dreamweaver,
Fireworks, Freehand, Flash)
• Swish
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